


The Looking Glass

by Isabear



Series: Summer Pornathon 2013 [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Long Distance Relationship, Magic, Masturbation, Separation, Team Gluttony, Voyeurism, ambiguous ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-26
Updated: 2013-09-26
Packaged: 2017-12-27 17:35:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/981723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isabear/pseuds/Isabear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The last drop spilled out with a silver sound like a distant bell. The ripples slowed, and then-</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"Freya," he rasped.</i>
</p><p>Merlin uses the Waters of Albion to see Freya again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Looking Glass

**Author's Note:**

> For the first main challenge of Summer Pornathon 2013, "kink grab bag". I chose voyeurism... sort of?

Merlin tripped up the stairs and kicked his door shut, leaning back against it to breathe. With both palms against the rough wood, he closed his eyes and gathered his courage.

Gaius was off in the lower town all evening. _Finally._

Knees weak, he lit a candle and set a wooden bowl on the stool beside the bed, then pulled a flask from his pocket. With a deep breath, he opened the stopper and poured the water into the bowl.

The moment water touched wood, a scent like all the forests of Albion sprang up: the spice of the ground after rain, the sharpness of green needles, the fresh breath of running water.

The last drop spilled out with a silver sound like a distant bell. The ripples slowed, and then-

"Freya," he rasped.

She looked up, half-startled. Seeing him, her face softened and her fingers fluttered upward, like she might reach out and touch his face. "Merlin! How did you find more-"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "I took a holiday." He didn't mention how he'd half-stolen a horse, or that Arthur wouldn't speak to him for three days after he returned, or Lancelot and Gwen's matching concerned expressions.

She seemed to guess, though, because her eyes went sad. "Don't make problems for yourself just to talk to me."

"I-" He snapped his mouth shut on _was looking for you there_ , because it wasn't her fault she hadn't heard his calls. The waters of Avalon ran deep, and most of them weren't even in this world.

She would've answered, if she'd heard.

"Don't be sad," she whispered. "Oh Merlin, don't - please. I want you happy."

"I'm okay," he said, rubbing his eyes roughly with his palms. "I'm- hearing you is good."

She quirked half a smile. "Seeing you is better."

He blushed, peeking around his hands. "Really?"

It was her turn to blush and look down, and he was struck again by how much he wanted to reach out and brush a finger across her shoulder. Brush his lips there, even.

Some hint of longing must have shown in his eyes, because she bit her lip and murmured, "I could see more of you? Maybe?"

He swallowed hard. Oh. _Oh._

He found his fingers playing with his scarf of their own accord, without any input from him. But the choice to reach back and untie the knot - that was all his. The fabric caught for a moment, frustrating, and then it fluttered to the floor. The back of his hand stroked across skin that never saw sunlight, as if it were her soft hand instead.

" _Merlin._ "

Her voice gave him confidence, though his cheeks still burned in the candlelight. Shrugging off his jacket, he touched his belt, then looked up.

Their eyes met, hers holding a question. Taking a deep breath, he unfastened his belt, letting it fall to the bed. His fingers played with the edge of his tunic for a moment, then pulled it off in one decisive movement.

When he looked down, she was smiling. "Is that all?" she asked, light, teasing, and suddenly he wanted to lay bare everything he felt that had led him to run off in the night for just the possibility of seeing her again.

She looked briefly surprised when his hand dropped to the laces of his trousers, but her gaze quickly heated. "Merlin," she breathed, as he pulled himself out of his smallclothes with shaking hands.

The first touch of his fingers was a revelation, toes curling and heat racing up his spine. He made a sound through clenched teeth, and the blue of the walls pulsed in response.

"Stand up," Freya said. "Let me see all of you?"

He rose to his feet with a gasp, fingers stroking lightly, back arching as need overtook embarrassment. With his thumb he brushed the thin skin of his balls, his touch light and teasing as he imagined hers would be.

Even as his own touch drove him wild, all the while her voice was soft in his ear. "Slowly, Merlin" and "faster now" and " _I wish I could-_ "

He came over his fist, curling forward as if he'd been punched.

With desperate sound, she reached up, her hand brushing the surface of the water for a moment, so close-!

Her image shattered, the light on the water forming and reforming in ripples until only the candle was reflected.


End file.
